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Many adult daughters and sons find themselves providing care for their elderly parents. Often that care must be provided in an emergency.
What if you were called upon to provide vital information to their doctors during a crisis? Could you provide the vital information doctors would need to care for your aging mom or dad? For most boomers, the answers is typically "no".
Why Instant Access to Your Elderly Parent's Medical Information Is Important
Having the complete medical information of an elderly parent at hand during an emergency could save their life. Seniors have more chronic health conditions than the general population. It's as simple as that.
Sadly, most American's our parent's age don't always make their children aware of all those conditions. Something as simple as not knowing your mom has an allergy to a common medication can have a life altering impact on the entire family. Having accurate medical background available during a crisis when an elderly parent is unconscious or unable to speak can mean difference between a positive outcome and medical disaster.
What Emergency Medical Personnel Need To Know
Medical personnel need information to properly treat during an emergency. At a minimum be sure you have the following information available:
- Contact information for doctors - Use it to get the details of your parent's specific health care needs. Be sure to include the names of all specialists as well as their primary care physician.
- Medical history - Make a list of all chronic conditions like COPD, cancer, dementia, diabetes, epilepsy, heart disease, and cancer. Include all surgeries, too.
- Medications - Prescriptions, over-the-counter drugs, vitamin and other supplements
- Insurance policies - To get procedures approved you will need the insurance company name, the policy numbers and contact numbers.
- Allergies -Both to medicines and foods
- Birth dates - Insurance and medical information are sometimes stored by date of birth. Often it's used to verify a person's identity.
- Emergency contacts - Include multiple contacts with alternate numbers
- Advanced directives - These important legal documents tell medical personnel what life support and resuscitation efforts your elderly parent wants.
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